ThatOneBigKid

Got down to Pool 4 yesterday. Beautiful day but the fishing was slow. Water temp first thing in the morning was 44, just touched 50 at the end of the day. Caught one 2lb Smallie on a Vision 110+1 on a secondary point current break going back into a spawning backwater. Color was Tennessee Shad. Caught a giant pike on a Storm Arashi Glide in Bluegill color. Didn't measure it, but I would guess it was mid 30s and 12ish pounds. Very fat fish that had obviously been eating up. Also managed a few dink largemouth on Squarebills right at the end of the day. Used a Strike King 1.5s in natural bluegill and a Megabass S-Crank in a red craw pattern. Was a good day overall. Great weather and a few fish. Wasn't expecting too much once I saw the water temp in the morning. Just great to be out on the water again.

I agree completely with this. I drive past Clear Lake in Forest Lake on Hwy35 every day and for the last week or so there have been a minimum of 30 people on the shore line along the frontage road and another 5-15 boats/kayaks in the water all fishing the same stretch for crappies. The people on shore certainly aren't distancing like suggested which worries me. I have been to White Bear Lake and Bald Eagle within the last 5 days with the boat and every one seemed to be doing a great job to distance at the boat launches there. I doubt they will be closing any launches, but I could see parks being affected. Going to Pool 4 for sure on this Saturday. I am hoping that with the full moon, warmer weather this week, and a storm front pushing in late Saturday that the fish are chomping. Can't wait to jerk on a few for the first time this season. Tight lines and stay healthy gents!

Got out to WBL for a boat test and Side Imaging session. Was a productive day and short of the wind blowing like it always does when I am on WBL, it was a good day. In other news, my trip to Lake Fork is officially canceled with Texas ordering a similar "Stay at Home" order through April 30th. Oh well, I guess it is for the best. Will be looking to hit Pool 4 and Western WI instead next week.

Had to call off the trip to Pool 4 tomorrow. Bummer cause I was looking to jerk on a few. Oh well, I will be out on White Bear Lake Sunday after church doing a boat check. White bass boat with one Talon. Say hi if you see me out there.

For sure man. I am game.

If it is just you and Brian going, stay at Lake Fork Marina. Good place, good tackle store and an okay restaurant for breakfast all on campus. If your looking at more than 2 guys going, look at either the larger villas at LFM, or look at the cabin rentals at Popes Landing. We used to stay at LFM, but now with it being a 4 man group the cabins at Popes are awesome. Right on the lake with good access to the boat lanes right from their boat launch. Plenty of good restaurants around the lake to eat. Emory, TX and Quitman, TX are both only a 10 min drive from the lake and offer even more good food options. There is a Walmart in Sulphur Springs, TX about 20min north of the lake for essentials, fishing license, batteries, etc if need be. Also more restaurants available in SS too. Lake Fork is a great trip that I would recommend to anyone. The drive isn't bad at all. We leave at 4am, stop at BPS in KC, Stop at Academy in Joplin, and Tulsa for dinner and we typically pull into Lake Fork around 10-11pm. The lake can be intimidating to break down when you are first starting out, but with the pros being their quite a bit in the last few year it at least gives you something to start on. If you ever plan a trip down there let me know. I have a ton more info, just don't have the time to write a novel right now.

Sorry man, this is a trip we do every year with my uncle's and Bro-in-law so we have a full boat(s) and cabin. I might be looking to do a fall trip somewhere so I'll keep you in mind for that if it every comes to fruition. Will be going to Wabasha(pool 4) for sure on Saturday for a boat test and some fishing. Will post a full report Monday.

Nice report man. I have never fished the Winona area, but it sounds interesting. I know what your saying with the flooded forest. Wabasha has areas that are just like that and I makes it so difficult to pinpoint anything. I am planning to head down to Pool 4 next Saturday to snoop around. Good to hear the water is warming. This weeks warming trend should help that to but the water is likely to keep rising with this weeks rain incoming. Regardless, excited to be hitting open water in less than a week. My yearly trip to Lake Fork, TX is still on for the week after Easter for now. I am hoping TX doesn't close down the state to all incoming road traffic. I know they have closed it to Louisiana residents road traffic (not completely closed, but incoming LA residents need to quarantine upon arrival), but all other road traffic seems to be okay as of now. Fingers crossed.

All of the GH tournaments are team tournament, but you can elect to fish solo if you like. The GH catches flack from the Facebook warriors but I have been fishing it for 6+ years now and it is a very well run league and there is a great group of guys in all the different series I have fished. I highly doubt you would be disappointed if you fished the any of the Wed night series.

Please do. I am itching to get out on the water. Thanks man!

Thanks for this report man. I have been fishing the Pool 4 backwaters in that area for years now and I am always guessing each year when the ice is off down there as I don't have a reliable source in the area to reach out to. I am thinking after next weeks warm up, wind, and some rain, those back waters should be sitting pretty to start getting a boat into from the main channel. Thoughts?

I have been wondering the same thing. If I am just going to fish by myself, how much more distance can I be? I bet they are assuming that if you are going fishing you are likely stopping at a gas station. Fingers crossed we can start fishing as soon as ice is gone. Could really use some social distancing right now....

Anyone else thoroughly disappointed with the final day weigh in of the Classic yesterday? The Live coverage all three days was top notch as always, but the weigh in yesterday was so drawn out and filled with dumb crap like dog jumping that it made it really hard to watch up to the end. For being the 50th Classic I expected something much better. Very happy for Hank Cherry to get the win. Felt bad watching him rid around a half empty arena. My guess is everyone in the arena was sick of it being drawn out, and nearly 8:30pm by the time it was over, that they just left before the end. Hopefully they get some feedback from this one and shorten up the ceremony next season to just 1 hour. Dont need all the dumb sponsor crap in there.

I can confirm that they defiantly work for pike.

Fishing the GH Sunday series solo this year.

Same here. Thorne has always done a good job for me. Never had any issues

Goals for this season: -Break current LMB Bass PB of 6lbs 11oz(MN caught fish). Hoping to do this at Lake Fork, TX in April -Break current Smallie PB of approx. 4.5lbs. Will be spending much more time on Mille Lacs this year so this should not be a problem. -Win first solo tournament. I've always fished team derbies, but fishing a new league solo this year on top of the team stuff. -Master the new Humminbird Mega 360 unit I am getting. Everything I have read and watched has got me pumped for this piece of tech. Should ultimately help with all of the above goals. Lot of boat rigging yet to do in preparation for April, but it can't come soon enough.

I would be down for a comparison fishing trip. Would be sweet to see the differences between the two.

Correct me if I am wrong, but the live scope doesn't show the "radar" like top down view of the structure around the transducer like the 360, correct? It is basically Lowrance's version of Panoptix. Otherwise I missed something looking at the Livescope. Going with 360 so there is no questioning how close I am to the structure or weedline I am targeting. Should just make me that more efficient and it should help me understand even more what is going on down there. Looking forward to it. Will for sure post a review.

So what kind of damage has everyone done in terms of new gear on Black Friday/Cyber Monday? I picked up two of the Humminbird Helix 10 Mega Imaging units from Cabelas on BF. Replacing my 1198 unit on my console. I intend to pick up a Mega 360 unit for the trolling motor that I'll run off the second unit. Also picked up some jigs from Outkast and some cranks from 6th Sense.

Fished on Friday and had 49.5 degree water. The water was pretty clear compared to the week previous so I am assuming the turnover may have happen during the week. The bite was also much slower than it had been the week before. Hoping the bite next Saturday is better. Fingers crossed. Did manage one good 4lber on Friday

Got out last Friday afterwork and was still able to get a couple good ones cranking deeper (12' - 15') on hard bottom humps and points. Throwing a Spro DD Little John and a 6th Sense Cloud 9 C15. Water was 52 degrees and it was windy and snowing. Fat 3.75lbs Real fat 4.8lbs Taking tomorrow off to get back out there. Possibly Saturday too. Hoping the crank bite is still going cause I haven't had enough yet, but have the finesse stuff rigged as well. Not looking forward to the wind report.

Fantastic tips as always Fry. I have also had good luck rolling a chatterbait or lipless crank around this same remaining green weeds. Making slight contact with the weeds and then ripping off them to get the reaction strike. Also, slowing down with a Ned Rig last fall really produced for me as well. Working it very slow around hard bottom and lay downs. It was painful at times, but I was still getting bit. I also love having my E-Tec this time of year I think I "winterized" 3 or 4 times last year before finally calling it quits.

Got out during the Tsunami on Saturday. The bite was for sure slower than than reports I heard on Friday and Sunday, but our best 5 still went 16.5lbs. Best was this 4.05. Water temps were 57 degrees. Tried slowing down, but only thing I could get bit on were DT14s and a 6th Sense Cloud 9 C15 crank.

Seth Fieder is making it awful hard to stay at work this morning and not go fishing while watching bass live. Loved his quote this morning right away, "We are going to burn this school to the ground and then move to my good spot and start culling 4s with 5sw